Sometimes real stories go beyond anything we can imagine. And this one from Damn Interesting podcast certainly exceeds any fictionous photography tale one can conceive. It involves espionage, camera coffins, secret film formulas and faxing a photo of the moon.

During the cold war the US initiated a Project Genetrix a secret project executed to gather intel from the closed border USSR. Project Genetrix launched huge 200-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide helium balloons into the air around strategic locations in Europe where the wind was supposed to carry them over the USSR where they will take photos and eventually exit the USSR air space to be collected by a friendly plane, mid air and have the film sent to the US for the intelligence force to decipher. This may sound like a kids play nowadays (and it is), but back in ’56 we did not have no gopros.

NASA just released the images that were taken from the Apollo mission. Project Apollo Archive took on the tedious job of putting the magazines into a flickr account! There are thousands of images to look through and each one is interesting.

The author of the flickr account stated that the best way to view is in the “Album” view. I have looked through some of the galleries and picked out a few favorites! Check these out after the jump! (no pun intended)

I absolutely love the idea of creating effect in camera, and especially when the process is simple and innovative and the results are worth the effort. Shanks FX used a mix of milk, food coloring and soap over a piece of glass. They then mounted a Canon 5DS and used the high speed burst mode to capture 2-4 photos per second, and combine them into a time-lapse. Alas it was too large of a file:

Intent on proving that anyone can learn to take a picture, Hasselblad, presumably at the behest of the United States government, developed a comprehensive training manual for astronauts. From specific instructions on operating the Hasselblad cameras to basic photography principles, astronauts were put through a crash course before going into space. Here’s a look at the manual…

If you are a space fan, this is your day. NASA just released the first surface image of Pluto.

The photo is the closest photo of Pluto ever taken at about 7,800 miles. This is quite amazing, especially compared to the roughly 3 billion (3,000,000,000) miles New Horizons had to travel to get there.

Another interesting fact is that we did not see the photo as soon as it was taken. It took the transmission about 4.5 hours to get to earth.

This could also be the most expensive photo taken at roughly $700 million to build, equip and fly the probe.

For a lot of us, travelling to space and taking photographs sounds like a dream job. For Don Pettit, it’s just another day at the office. In fact, part of his official NASA training included working with a number of professional photographers and trainers. Of course, being an astronaut photographer isn’t just taking beautiful photos from outer space. Pettit said in an interview with SmugMug, there’s actually a lot of engineering photography to be done, which Pettit says is actually quite uninteresting to the public.

“We have to take macro images of pins in an electrical connector or a bit of grunge in a hydraulic quick-disconnect fitting or little patterns that might develop on the surface of one of the windows. These things need to be documented so the images can be downlinked for engineers on the ground to assess what’s happening to the systems on space station. We get training specifically on doing these engineering images, which, for the most part, are not really interesting to the public.

Photography on the space station is more than just taking a bunch of pretty pictures. We take pictures of Earth and the surroundings of earth, and these pictures represent a scientific data set recorded now for over 14 years. About 1.2 million pictures were taken as of July 2012.”

This is proof that astronauts are just the best. The team aboard the International Space Station decided to kill some time by releasing a large ball of water into the spacecraft and sticking a GoPro inside it. Because they are in space, the surface tension of the water caused it to take on a spherical shape, allowing enough room for the action camera to fit inside as it floated around in the cabin. There’s also some really cool footage of the astronauts attempting to handle the sphere. Their reaction to the experience is almost as fun to watch as the GoPro water ball itself.

As further proof that astraunts rule, NASA even filmed the entire thing in 3D for our ultimate viewing pleasure (so long as you have the appropriate 3D eyewear to make it work). But, even if you don’t have 3D glasses, the 2D version is pretty rad, too. Take a look at the awesome footage, below. It certainly puts a whole new perspective on underwater photography. [Read more…]

Let’s be real, space selfies are light years better than the average Instagram styled selfie. Photos taken of space from space are like the ultimate travel photos. It probably has something to do with the fact that some astronauts, like Buzz Aldrin, were orbiting earth at speeds of 17,000 mph and just casually snapped a selfie like what they’re doing is no big deal. As Aldrin explains in the interview below, he was supposed to be photographing ultraviolet stars, but when the sun rose and he could no longer see the stars, he turned the camera on himself because he was curious to see what it would like and, you know, why not?.

Listen as Aldrin tells the story behind pioneering the space selfie, then read on to see how you can take a space selfie of your own.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is launching a camera into space via a supply ferry, the Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 (ATV-5) which headed to the International Space Station. Launching cameras into space isn’t particularly rare in itself, but this camera is kinda special. The Automated Transfer Vehicle Break-Up Camera was designed in just nine short months by team members of the ESA specifically for this mission. The Break-Up Camera is a disposable infrared camera that will photograph the reentry of the ATV back into earth’s atmosphere where it is destined to burn up in a blaze of glory. [Read more…]

John Aldred is a portrait and animal photographer in Lancaster, England. you can see some of his work on his website, or find him on Facebook or Twitter.

Stefan Kohler is a conceptual photographer, specialized in mixing science, technology and photography. He is one of the founders of Kamerakind, based in Traunstein, Southern Germany. You can follow him on Facebook or on 500px.com

Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel.

When he isn't waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses.